


Keep on the Sunny Side

by roebling



Category: B.A.P, K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Friendship, Gen, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5227325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roebling/pseuds/roebling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jung Daehyun has been a fan of SunShine for a long time. He knows all the songs and can dance all the dances. He's finally got a plan to see his idols in person, and he just knows it's going to be as amazing as he's imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep on the Sunny Side

**Author's Note:**

> A short and super silly fic in celebration!! Thank you to D & M for reading this over and reassuring me <3 So so happy that B.A.P is back!
> 
> Warning for brief and non-explicit violence: character A and character B scuffle, resulting in a bruise and a bloody nose.
> 
>  
> 
> (PS If you enjoy B.A.P fic please consider checking out [The Brownie Bunch](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/the_brownie_bunch_4)! TBB is a B.A.P fic fest I help run that is entering its 4th round. Sign ups for both prompts and writers are open through 12/30/15, so please go check it out!)

In spite of all Daehyun’s planning, things do not get off to a perfect start. Since he’s funding this trip with the pocket money and spare change, he’s got to take the cheapest bus. That’s the one that departs at eleven thirty and gets into Seoul a little after three in the morning. His mom didn’t ask any questions when he said he was sleeping over at Joonhoo’s house, which is a blessing but also means he’s got to spend the evening hanging around the Busan Central Bus Terminal. He eats his dinner from a vending machine and spends the time daydreaming about what it’ll be like tomorrow when he sees his SunShine-nims in the flesh for the first time ever.

They start to board his bus when he’s in the convenience store buying a chocopie. By the time he climbs on, most of the seats are full. He ends up in a window seat sitting next to a perfectly friendly but very large man who smells strongly of garlic. Daehyun cedes a third of his seat to his neighbor and tries unsuccessfully to sleep. 

They pull into the bus depot in Seoul in the dead of night. Daehyun is tired beyond words, and so hungry that his stomach is audibly protesting, but he’s HERE, and he’s going to see his Soyeon today and the prospect of that makes just about everything bearable.

He gets to the CJ E&M building a little bit after 4. It galls him to pay for a cab, but it’s way too far to walk, especially through a dark city he doesn’t know. His heart sinks a little when he sees there are already crowds of fans waiting, huddled together in little clumps. He should have known to expect this. Popular groups are performing right now: B2ST is back for the first time in a while, and one of those newer hip-hop themed boy groups that are so trendy. Still, the line only stretches halfway across the plaza. From what he’s read and from the questions he asked his SunBeam friends online (friends in the sense that he can ask them abstract questions about M!Countdown recordings, not friends in the sense that he’d made plans to meet up with them or anything) that’s not too bad. As long as he can wait it out until they start to hand out tickets, he should have a pretty great chance at getting in.

The night is long. The morning. Whatever time it is. Not a time when right minded people should be awake, but Daehyun makes no claims in that regard. He sits with his head resting in his hands. He’s thankful that it’s a temperate night in mid April. A little chilly and with clouds gathering, but not too bad, especially since he’s wearing his Official SunBeam Generation 2 hoodie. He dozes, and he listens to SunShine’s entire back catalog on his phone, and he tries to look like he knows what he’s doing and why he’s here.

But he does know why. He is here because in the last several years of disappointment (disappointing score on the college entrance exam, disappointing fumbles when making friends at university, disappointing part time job, disappointing life) the only bright constant has been SunShine. He remembers the first time he heard Soyeon sing, the first time he saw Emi dance. He’d never cared about idols before, but suddenly he understood. In a life where not much was noteworthy enough to care about, he suddenly had this _thing_ \-- these amazing _girls_ \-- who meant more to him than just about anything.

But even the most fervent of fans has his limit. It's not the thirst that does him in, nor the hunger, although all he's had to eat since getting off the bus last night is a smashed and slightly melted candy bar he found in the bottom of his bag. Daehyun is hungry and thirsty, but those things he can endure. In the end, his bladder decides the matter for him. He's got to _go_.

The scattered groups of people have more or less coalesced into a loose, snaking line. The girls directly in front of him huddle together in a stand-off-ish clutch. They're SunShine fans too, and Daehyun had tried to introduce himself, but they hadn't been much interested. Still, it couldn't hurt to try again.

"Excuse me," he says. "Excuse me. Do you think you can watch my place in line?"

The nearest girl looks back at him. She's wearing her SunBeam headband, the glowing orange suns bobbling over her head like two angry radioactive insects. They're both SunBeams and they should look out for each other, embrace the message of warmth, good cheer, and community that --

"You're not supposed to get out of line," she says, uninterested and tired.

Daehyun blinks, but smiles. "I know that," he says, "but ..."

But she's already turned back around. Daehyun sighs. Maybe he can just grin and bear it ... He sits for a moment, squirming. No, no chance. He takes his backpack off and unzips it. Digging around inside he finds his official SunBeam Year 3 notebook, and tears out a page. He writes his name in thick black letters, using the sharpie he brought for autographs (just in case!). He weighs it down with a crumbled piece of the pavement, and hopes that the gathering clouds hold off on their promise of rain. Nobody's going to let him back in line if he tries to claim his name is smudged.

It takes longer than he expected to find a facility. He'd researched this before he left home, but the nearest public restroom on the list he printed out is closed overnight fr cleaning. The next nearest is gone or was never there in the first place. The address he printed out brings him to a glossy office building. Finally, after twenty minutes of searching, he find a McDonald's. The restrooms are clean and empty, and he feels much better after relieving himself. In the nearly restaurant, the aroma of greasy meat and fries washes over him. His empty stomach grumbles. He pats it, willing it to be quiet. No use. He buys a quarter-pounder meal.

By the time he gets back to CJ E&M Center, it's almost eight o'clock in the morning. The line has grown a lot longer. The streets are crowded now with people on their way to work and school. Daehyun looks for his placeholder, but all the groups of teenagers in black puffy coats look the same. He looks up and down the line, tries to remember what he'd been standing here. Exhaustion makes everything look the same.

Finally, he notices something familiar -- a bright blue jacket with a rainbow on the back: authentic SunShine goods from their first Japanese tour, rare and prized now. He remembers seeing that jacket. He walks quickly, nearly running, eyes on the ground. Finally, he sees it: his placeholder, squarely pinned in place by a big, black boot.

"Hey!" Daehyun says. "Excuse me! That's my spot."

The owner of the boot looks up. It's a guy, which isn't as uncommon an occurrence among SunShine's fans as it could be, but is still rare enough. He's about Daehyun's age, or a little younger, with thick black glasses and heavy black hair hanging over his round cheeks. He looks like the stereotypical fanboy, but he's standing with a group of older, pretty girls. They're not SunShine fans. They're wearing the black and purple tee shirts of Magic, another girl group who are SunShine's not-quite rivals.

"What?" the guy says.

"That's my spot!" Daehyun says, pointing to his sign. "I was here first thing this morning and I was waiting for hours but I had to go piss so I asked those girls -- " He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the group of girls in front of him. " -- to watch my spot, and I put down that piece of paper."

The kid is looking at him like he's an idiot. "You can't just get out of line," he says, disapproving and smug.

Daehyun feels anger bubbling up in his chest. "I know that," he says, "but I had to pee. I wrote my name and everything."

The kid lifts his foot off the paper. Sure enough, there is Daehyun's name, covered by dirty footprint.

"See? Daehyun! That's me!"

"That's really weak," the kid says. "You can't just leave a piece of paper. That's against the rules. If you could do that why would anyone wait in line? Why didn't you ask a friend to hold your place for you?"

Daehyun feels his cheeks get hot. This guy's four friends are surrounding him, glaring. They're the strong unnie type and they're looking at Daehyun with unforgiving expressions on their faces.

"I'm here by myself," Daehyun says. "I came up from Busan last night."

One of the guy's friends laughs. "We can tell that," she says.

Daehyun feels his face grow hot. "And what's wrong with a Busan accent? At least I don't sound like a biased jerk."

The guy narrows his eyes. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Tell her not to talk to me like that!" Daehyun's voice goes embarrassingly shrill.

"She wouldn't, if you weren't trying to cut in line." The other guy sounds calm still, and that just makes Daehyun more angry. He feels a weird fluttering sensation in his chest, and his whole body feels hot. This was supposed to be his perfect day. Why is the entire world conspiring against him.

"I'm NOT trying to cut! I was here this morning." He bends down, intending to pick up his piece of paper and show them, again, that his name is written down _right there_ , but the guy must think he's going to tackle him or something, because he crouches defensively, puts his hands on Daehyun's shoulders, and shoves him away.

Then it's hard to know what happens because everyone -- not just the guy's friends, but _everyone_ in the plaza -- starts screaming and Daehyun can't even think he's so angry. He scrabbles at the guy's jacket, trying to get purchase, but he just ends up pulling the other guy down on top of him. They're rolling on the ground. Daehyun's head thumps hard on the asphalt. He can see a trickle of blood running from the guy's nose, and it’s surprising compliment on his knuckles.

Suddenly, strong hands pull them up. Daehyun tries to find his feet. The staff policing the line has summoned body guards, and one of these hulking figures holds Daehyun up with one hands around his bicep. Daehyun's foe dangles from the arms of another, doing a good impression of a dead fish.

The staff's face is red and she's screaming. They're both kicked out -- banned from attending any events at MNET permanently, in fact -- but Daehyun is only partially paying attention. He's looking at the blood on the other guy's face -- dark red against his pale skin. Did he really do that? He can't remember, but it seems the only possibility.

He's never made anyone bleed before.

How could everything have gone this wrong?

His heart rate slows, and what the staff is saying starts to sink in. After months of waiting, there will be no SunShine for him. He's persona non grata now.This entire trip has been for nothing.

He closes his eyes.

"... Now get out of here. Both of you!"

The watching fangirls disburse now that the drama has concluded, but Daehyun can feel them watching him, and hear them whispering behind their hands as the passes.

The other guy's friends are worrying over him.

"Youngjae, are you okay?"

"Hyosung nuna, I'm fine," Youngjae says. He wipes his nose with a tissue. He still looks pale, but there is bright color in the apples of his cheeks.

"Let's take you to the hospital," another of the girls says. "I'll walk you there."

"No way, Sunhwa," yet another says. "We can all go."

"No," Youngjae says. He stands up. "You guys stay here. There's no reason you should have to miss the recording too. I'm fine."

Daehyun rolls his eyes, but he can't even feign superior nonchalance now. He walks away, leaving this stupid Youngjae kid with his crowd of fawning friends. It doesn't really matter, anyway.

Daehyun is banned. For life.

It's not fair. He spent months saving up for this trip, months anticipating SunShine's comeback. He purchased his bus ticket the day it was announced. He knows there are more important things in the world than a girl group, but in the mundane drift of his life (school, part time job, tired parents, bossy older brothers) ... SunShine is a beam of bright, happy light that illuminates something dark.

And now it's all ruined because of some fat faced kid who couldn't just give Daehyun back his place in line.

The staff is back at the head of the line, restoring order and handing out tickets, but Daehyun knows she's keeping an eye on him. He hitches up his backpack and crosses the street. Daehyun sits down on the steps of a closed stationary store and pulls his knees up to his chest. He doesn't want to cry. He _really_ doesn't want to cry, but the whole world seems cold and grey and uncaring, and he can't help himself.

He is still crying, face pressed into his sleeves, when he feels someone come up beside him and sit down.

"Go away," he mumbles. "I'm fine."

The person doesn't get up. They sit quietly at Daehyun's side for a few moments and then they say, "I just want to apologize."

It's the guy. Daehyun looks up, blinking tears out of his lashes. He doesn't want to deal with this asshole any more. He just wants to go home. He wishes he'd never even gotten on that bus. Why had he ever thought that this trip would work out like he imagined? When has anything ever worked out like that for him?

Youngjae -- that was his name, right? -- sighs. "Listen," he says. "I'm _sorry_."

"Doesn't matter," Daehyun says. He rubs his sleeve against his eyes. It stings.

"Yeah," Youngjae says. "Sorry. It's just ... people are always trying to scam to get into shows. That's why there are rules and stuff. It wasn't anything personal."

Daehyun looks over at him, but all he can see are Youngjae's bangs, falling in his face. "Well, how was I supposed to know? I've never been to a music show recording before. I asked the girls in front of me to hold my place, but they just ignored me." A prickle of anger rises up from his stomach. "They're _SunBeams_. I thought they were supposed to be _nice_."

Youngjae just shrugs. "Not always," he says. He scuffs his feet against the asphalt. "About as often as any other people, I guess."

Daehyun doesn't say anything. He knew that, really, deep down, SunShine fans wouldn't be any different than anyone else, but he'd wanted so badly to believe otherwise. "I guess."

Youngjae sighs. "So. Yeah. Sorry. I'm Youngjae by the way."

He's smiling a small, guarded smile when Daehyun looks over at him.

"Daehyun," Daehyun says, holding out his hand.

"You came all the way up from Busan?"

Daehyun nods. "I told my mom I was staying with a friend. I'm not supposed to be back until tomorrow night."

There's a long moment of silence. It's well after nine o'clock now. The crowds are thinner. The businessmen and women are at work. Kids are at school. People stroll at a leisurely pace. Bright sky shows through tatters of grey cloud.

"What are you going to do?" Youngjae asks.

Daehyun shrugs. "See the sights, I guess. I haven't been to Seoul since I was a little kid."

Another long pause.

"I could show you around if you want," Youngjae says. "To, y'know, make amends."

Daehyun narrows his eyes. "Don't you have school or something?"

"I'm in university," Youngjae says. "I only have one class today, and I was going to blow it off anyway. As long as you study, you really only need to go to the exams."

"Oh," Daehyun says. "Right." His eyes still sting and unhappiness sits heavy in his belly, but hanging out with this Youngjae has got to be better than spending the entire day alone in a big city that he doesn't know.

Right?

\----

"No, Melodies of the Heart was definitely Soyeon's legendary era," Daehyun says, between mouthfuls of rabokki. "Her pink hair was awesome. You have to admit that!"

Youngjae nods, and pushes his glasses back up his nose. Although he was at M!Countdown to see Magic, he knows a lot about SunShine too. That had been unexpected, and nice. "Her pink hair was awesome," he agrees, "but remember the blonde hair from Golden Hour? Before she cut it? That was the era when I realized that Soyeon was my bias."

"Okay," Daehyun says. "I admit it. She looked great during Golden Hour. But her pink hair!"

Youngjae shrugs. "I like her natural look better. Besides, Golden Hour is a better song that Melodies of the Heart. You have to admit _that_."

Daehyun shakes his head. "Oh, no way! I know that Golden Hour was their biggest hit, but Melodies of the Heart is a classic." His throat is a little dry. He eats spicy food well enough, but this rabokki is really hot. He takes another sip of water, and then another sip of soju.

Daehyun remembers the first time he heard Melodies of the Heart, the song that made him a SunBeam. He remembers sitting in the practice room at the music academy he'd attended, looking at his phone while the instructor worked with some other kid. He heard the intro to an unfamiliar song: strings, but instead of solemn and slow fast and playful and jumping, and then a woman's voice, bright and clear and strong. Now he starts to sing, softly, thinking of those familiar lyrics. His favorite song, and his favorite voice, and his favorite star.

He trails off when he realizes that Youngjae is staring at him.

"What?" he asks, nervous. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You're really good," Youngjae says.

Daehyun shrugs. "I'm okay," he says. "I wanted to be a singer, for a while. Even went to some auditions."

"Why didn't you keep going?" Youngjae asks, frowning. "I mean, you're good and you're not a bad looking guy or ..."

He pauses, suddenly, as though he only belatedly realizes what he's said.

Daehyun struggles to suppress a grin. Play it cool, he tells himself. "Thanks," he says. "But my ears are kind of big, and I have bad skin. Besides, I think I'd rather be a fan than an idol."

"Yeah?" Youngjae asks.

Daehyun shrugs. "Yeah." He reaches across and nabs a bite of Youngjae's seafood rabokki. The guy owes him at least that much. "I mean, singing on stage, with all your fans in front of you is a dream, right? But there's all the bad stuff ... You've gotta deal with stalker fans and you've gotta be on a diet _all the time_."

He punctuates that last statement with another mouthful of noodles.

Youngjae rolls his eyes. "You're as skinny as a stick. Like you'd have to worry about that."

Daehyun shrugs. "I'm just saying. They'd make me go to the gym then. You know what I mean. You gotta look _perfect_ when you're an idol. Remember when Emi went on that crash diet after those articles about her during Sweetheart?"

Youngjae nods. Of course, all the fans remember that. Daehyun had tweeted at her every day, saying he thought she looked beautiful any way.

"That was terrible," Youngjae says, looking mournfully at a piece of rice cake. Emi is his second bias in SunShine. "I guess it is pretty hard. You couldn't pay me enough to go through what Jiwoo went through with her scandal."

Last year, Jiwoo, SunShine's beloved maknae, was embroiled in a dating scandal. Pictures came out of her having dinner with a male actor who she had worked with in her first drama role. Both sides denied the rumor, and said they were just co-workers enjoying each other's company, but the fandom was in an uproar. SunShine weren't rookies any more, but Jiwoo was only twenty, with the largest group of uncle fans out of the entire group.

Daehyun doesn't get it, personally. He hated to see how uncomfortable Jiwoo looked when hosts on variety shows joked about her 'dinner date'. He narrows his eyes. "Do those ajushis really think they're going to _date_ Jiwoo? They're old."

Youngjae rolls his eyes. "It's just a fantasy. Don't you think about dating Soyeon?"

Daehyun sighs longingly. "All the time." He thinks about how pretty she is, and how her hair is always perfect, and how sweet she is to her fans, and ...

"But you wouldn't really want to date her, right?".

Daehyun frowns. "I ... Wouldn't _you_ want to date her? If you had the chance?"

Youngjae looks confused. "I'm not like _that_ , Daehyun."

"You're not a Soyeon fan? I thought you said she was your bias though, after Beautiful Days when she ..." Daehyun understands about changing your bias ... He thought Jiwoo was his for the first year he was a SunBeam, but this is ridiculous. Youngjae _just said_ that Soyeon was his favorite.

"Daehyun," Youngjae says. "I'm gay."

Daehyun stops chewing with his mouth full. He knows what that means -- he definitely knows -- but he's never actually met anyone in real life.

Anyone other than himself, at least.

"Oh," he says. "That's cool." His face is hot. His cheeks are probably scarlet.

Youngjae raises a knowing eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything. "So, no," he says. "I wouldn't want to date Soyeon. She's my bias but I wouldn't like, want to kiss her or anything."

"Ah," Daehyun says. He takes a drink of water and another sip of Soju in quick succession. "You're really ... it's really brave of you to just come out and say it like that."

Youngjae shrugs. "I guess," he says. He looks down at his lap. "I told my brother first, and he didn't care. And then I told my parents, and they said they loved me no matter what. If it doesn't make a difference to them, why should it matter to anyone else?"

Daehyun nods. He tries to imagine what his own parents would say. It would make a difference to them, he thinks. He knows it would. He'd like to pretend that everything is light and butterflies and that they would hug him and tell him that they love him no matter what, but it would make a difference.

Youngjae sighs heavily. "I'm full," he says. His bowl is still half full.

Daehyun narrows his eyes. "There's still so much left."

"You can finish it, if you want," Youngjae says lazily.

Daehyun pulls the bowl towards him. It's not right, letting food go to waste.

When they're finally done, and Youngjae's paid the bill ("It's my treat. I need to it make up to you for ruining your dream trip." "... Well, I gave you a bloody nose." "You'll just have to owe me one.") Daehyun stretches and gets out his phone. 

"You can tell me how to get back to CJ E&M, right?" he asks.

Youngjae narrows his eyes. "You're not gonna try to camp out again there, are you? We're _banned_. Remember?"

Daehyun sighs, and nods. "I know," he says, "but the bathhouse I'm staying at is over there."

"You're staying at a bathhouse?" Youngjae wrinkles his nose.

Daehyun nods. It's all he can afford.

Youngjae sighs again, heavily. "Listen," he says. "Why don't you just stay at my place? I've got extra blankets and stuff from when my brother stays over."

"No," Daehyun says. "That's okay ... I don't want to impose on you any ..."

"It's fine," Youngjae says expansively. He pulls out his phone, and grins. "You don't have to leave until tomorrow night, right?"

Daehyun nods.

"The Inkigayo pre-recording is tomorrow morning, and we're not banned from SBS yet." Youngjae grins.

Daehyun grins too. He still feels off kilter. His fantasy trip hasn't worked out at all like he imagined, but maybe reality isn't a bad alternative.


End file.
